The nameless extras in the classroom were all jeering, unaware that most of them would be eliminated before the graduation season.
Kakashi's prediction of a two-thirds elimination rate was no joke.
Out of the entire class of dozens of students, only nine ultimately became Genin.
The proof was what Shikamaru said during the Chunin Exams: all the new graduates from this year were present. However, there were clearly more than a dozen teams during the graduation assignments.
In other words, even though many passed the Clone Technique graduation exam, only the Nine were truly recognized by their team leaders; the rest were sent back to school to retake their studies.
Many people thought that all it took to become a Konoha Genin was to learn the Clone Technique. They were simply too naive.
"Alright, get back to your seats quickly. We're starting today's lesson," Iruka said, his face grim.
Not getting a response from Naruto, Iruka should have continued scolding him. However, hearing the others' blatant mockery, Iruka's anger shifted to them, and he let Naruto off easily.
But this didn't sit well with the others.
"What the heck, Iruka-sensei is so biased."
"Just a few reprimands? Shouldn't he be made to stand?"
"If being late only gets you a few scoldings, I'll be late from now on."
The extras grew more and more agitated. With more people, they became bolder, not even giving their homeroom teacher any face, which made Iruka furious.
"Tch, how boring," Sasuke couldn't help but sneer, clearly annoyed that his lesson was interrupted.
"So handsome!" Including Ino, almost all the girls revealed infatuated expressions.
Oh, right, Sakura was an exception. She had a faraway look on her face, a mix of joy and anger, embarrassment and annoyance.
"Nar... Naruto..." Hinata fretted, twisting her fingers, concerned for Naruto.
"Haha, Naruto's in trouble now," Kiba said, watching the fun with Akamaru in his arms.
"I think Naruto's probably delayed by something. After all, he's as clumsy as I am, and can't handle anything well," Chouji said, munching on chips.
"Ugh! How troublesome!" Shikamaru yawned, completely uninterested.
Hmm, who else was there?
Whatever!
Naruto didn't want to bother with them at first, but seeing that they were determined to take him down, he pulled out the 3000 Ryo he'd just received and started fanning himself.
"Ugh, this is such a headache. I was just praised by the Third Hokage and even got a reward of 3000 Ryo. I don't even know how to spend so much money."
Naruto's smug attitude was infuriating, but no one was really focused on that.
The Third Hokage rewarded him with 3000 Ryo? That was impossible!
Maybe 3000 Ryo was a tight budget for a month's worth of food, but for them, these half-grown kids, it was a fortune.
If Naruto was late because he was summoned by the Hokage and praised, and then rewarded with 3000 Ryo, then their earlier mockery would make them look like fools.
"Tch, this guy really loves to show off!" Shikamaru's lips curled up, but the brain that had just started working shut down again, and his head slumped on the table.
Well, although he wasn't interested in many things, he didn't want to see Naruto become the target of everyone's attention. He'd already started to think of a way to help Naruto out of this situation.
"Wait a minute!"
At this moment, a background character slammed his hand on the table and shouted, "You seem to get a fixed 3000 Ryo every month, right? What are you talking about, 'reward?' That's clearly your allowance! After all, you're an orphan with no parents and no upbringing, hahaha!"
Hahahaha!
Many other background characters joined in the laughter, their gazes filled with mockery towards Naruto.
"Gobbi Wang Wulang!!" Iruka glared at him.
In that instant, not only Iruka, but also The Nine almost simultaneously turned cold, and a hint of killing intent surfaced from Naruto and Sasuke.
The background character Gobbi Wang Wulang didn't notice any of this. Suddenly, he felt a chill around him, making him nervously swallow his saliva. But he still stubbornly said, "What? Did I say something wrong? He's just a..."
Swish!
Naruto suddenly flashed to his side, leaning close to his ear and saying coldly, "If you dare to say another word, I'll kill you!"
Gobbi Wang Wulang instantly felt a chill run down his spine, as if he were facing the Grim Reaper himself.
Plop!
He involuntarily plopped down onto the ground, a puddle forming beneath his pants.
"So fast!"
"Such a terrifying aura!"
"Is this really Naruto?"
Not only was Gobbi Wang Wulang terrified, but almost everyone present was doubting their own eyes.
Was this really the same goofy, bumbling dead last of the class? He was even more intimidating than Sasuke!
"Wahahaha! This trick really works!"
Just as the atmosphere was growing tense, Naruto suddenly clutched his stomach and burst out laughing.
He pointed at Gobbi Wang Wulang and jeered, "You're such a scaredy-cat! I just scared you a little, and you wet your pants. Hahaha, looks like you're not much better than me!"
"And look at this, I have my regular 3000 Ryo right here!"
So, it was just a new trick to scare people!
Many in the classroom secretly breathed a sigh of relief. This was the kind of development they expected; the dead last was still the dead last.
Only a few of the more astute students took a deep look at Naruto, making a mental note.
Of course, all the attention was immediately drawn to Gobbi Wang Wulang. The background characters who had been mocking Naruto before now turned their taunts towards Gobbi Wang Wulang.
Gobbi Wang Wulang came back to his senses, feeling both angry and ashamed. He burst into tears and ran out of the classroom.
"Hey, hey, don't run so fast! You're splashing everywhere, it's disgusting!" Naruto shouted from behind.
Hahahaha!
The classroom erupted in laughter again, and Gobbi Wang Wulang ran even faster, the splash radius widening.
"Alright, alright, settle down!"
Iruka sighed softly, not bothering to chase after Gobbi Wang Wulang. He addressed the remaining students, "Next, we'll start our class. This lesson is on practicing the Shuriken Technique."
"Although it's practice, each of you only gets ten attempts. Your highest score will be included in your graduation exam score, so you must take it seriously."
As soon as Iruka finished speaking, a chorus of groans filled the classroom.
"No way? I'm totally unprepared!"
"Iruka-sensei, how about we postpone it for a few days? I'm not feeling my best today."
"Yeah, we're not all here right now. I suggest we wait until Wang Wulang arrives before we take the exam."
But no matter what they said, the decision had already been made. It wouldn't be changed.
"A ninja must always be prepared to face unexpected situations. The enemy won't give you any time to prepare when they appear." Iruka waved his hand, leading everyone to the training grounds.
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